Police Chief Brett Hurley brought an applicant’s name for the newly established police officer trainee position in Houston to the city council’s December 9 meeting. He recommended the hiring of Curtis Chapel for the position, commenting that Chapel was local and had already served as an intern in the police department in Houston.
Chapel was approved pending the usual pre-employment screening and the signed three-year commitment between Chapel and the city. The city will be paying for Chapel’s expenses in his last year of training and Chapel will agree to stay on the force for the next three years.
Truth in Taxation Meeting
City Administrator Michelle Quinn presented a summary of the proposed budget, previous audit and upcoming projects before the Truth in Taxation meeting was opened to the public for comment. Quinn noted that there had been no changes to the budget which was previously presented at the September council meeting. The only change was moving the Lincoln Street reconstruction bond to the infrastructure fund; this did not affect the final budget.
Quinn shared that the LGA funding from the state ($411,215) had a slight increase of only $426. There was a slight decrease in workers’ compensation of 6% to 10% and an increase in health insurance of just under 17%.
The auditor recommends having a minimum of 50% unassigned general fund balance; Houston has maintained such a balance since the end of 2019.
Since 2020, the city has consistently used a 3% increase in property tax levy and was once again requesting the 3% increase.
Acting Mayor Cody Mathers (Mayor Scott Wallace was absent) commended the staff for “keeping frugality in mind every day at their jobs.” The meeting was opened to public comment, but no residents commented.
After closing the Truth in Taxation meeting and reopening the regular meeting, the council adopted the proposed budget and levy as presented with no changes.
Future Budgeting
Mike Bubany of David Drown Associates, Inc. joined the council meeting to discuss future financial needs of the city. Using a fictional average home in Houston with a value of $125,000 in 2014, Bubany informed the council it would now have a value of $252,000; this used a 10% increase in home value for 2024.
Bubany showed projections of how the water and sewer funds would perform with a standard 3% increase each year. Plugging those numbers into his computer program, he showed that the funds would struggle in the future and suggested a 5% increase in rates to provide for future necessary projects.
Since the state legislature didn’t approve funding in its last session, the proposed Spruce Street project will not happen until 2026. The utilities connected to that project are eligible for PFA funding. Houston is on the list for a possible $600,000 grant.
The Cedar Street project is now planned for 2030. Quinn and Derek Olinger of Bolton Menk agreed that if they have to update the plan for Cedar, it will basically result in restarting the grant application process. With some of the issues related to Cedar recently addressed by other projects, there will be less of a chance for a grant for the Cedar Street project.
The consensus of the council was that Grant, Chase and Jackson Streets’ projects will need to wait at this time.
Ultimately, the council asked Bubany to prepare PDFs using the worst case scenario and 5% increase in rates for them to consider. This would increase rates to a $250,000 home by $5.00 a month for 2025. Bubany commented that this impact was a lot lower than a lot of area towns were seeing. Bubany will be receiving some updates on project numbers from Bolton and Menk before sending the info to the council. No action was taken by the council.
Other Business
In other business the council:
• Approved changing the library’s hours to provide open hours on Friday afternoons; four hours were moved from Thursday and Saturday; the library will continue to be open 32 hours a week;
• Appointed Heather Meyer to replace Denise Rostad, whose term is expiring on the library board;
• Approved the city joining a regional safety group at an annual fee of $819; this will provide networking and access to online training and ensure compliance with OSHA requirements according to Quinn;
• Accepted the audit terms and a letter of agreement with Smith Schafer;
• Approved a three-year maintenance agreement for the copier;
• Approved hiring Katie Tostenson for the summer rec position;
• Heard that Houston Fire Department will be hosting area training sessions;
• Recognized and thanked Councilman Cody Mathers for his work on the council since 2013; this was Mathers’ last meeting.
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